Toy missile launcher



Dec. 18, 1962 H. E. GEER, JR

TOY MISSILE LAUNCHER Filed NOV. 22, 1961 INVENTOR Howard year, J3:

ATTORNEYs United States Patent 3,068,851 TOY lVflSSILE LAUNCHER Howard E. Geer, Jr., 6 Hope Drive, Darien, Conn. Filed Nov. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 154,297 3 Claims. (Cl. 124-16) This invention relates to a toy missile launcher, and more particularly, to a missile launcher that is inexpensive to manufacture and yet is effective and durable in use.

With the coming of the rocket age the increasing interest in missiles, satellites and the exploration of space has been very pronounced. This concern with rocketry has evoked a number of responses and emotions not only in the United States but throughout the world. To many, rockets represent the tool that will open new vistas of scientific endeavor in the exploration of space, in communications, and as a means of transportation from point to point on earth. To others, rocketry symbolizes an instrument of power and terror, with rockets as the delivery means for the ultimate weapon.

With all this interest in rocketry, it is natural that the children of the world are also extremely interested in rocket toys. A great variety of these toys for children have heretofore been produced, including a wide variety of toy launching apparatus. Many times the launching facilities and the rockets are amazingly realistic, being made to scale embodying many of the details present in the real article. These complex toys have certain disadvantages, however, since they are expensive to manufacture, and are beyond the economic reach of many children and their parents. Another drawback of these complex toys, which may be in keeping with their trueto-life counterparts, is that they are easily broken or are prone to malfunction because of their complexities. This is distressing not only to the disappointed child, but also to the family breadwinner whose hard-earned money provided for the toy.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a toy missile launcher that is reliable in operation and durable for long life.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy missile launcher of the above character which can be easily operated by a child without the aid of his father.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toy missile launcher or" the above character which is compact and may be carried in a childs pocket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy m issile launcher of the above character which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the invention with the toy rocket and childs thumbs shown in outline;

FIGURE 2 is a two-position sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIGURE 1.

In general, the invention comprises a concavely dished central launching plate 10, invertible by snap-action to a convexly dished configuration. After being cocked, the snap-action inversion of the launching surface propels the toy rocket 12 upward. Inversion is achieved by 3,053,851 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 downward force exerted on the lateral release levers 14, 16 by the thumbs or fingers 18 of the operator.

The construction and operation of the rocket launcher will now be described in more detail. As shown in FIG- URE 2, the launching plate surface is disc-shaped and 'has a diameter along its surface slightly greater than a straight line diameter between opposite points 20 of the rim 22. Thus, the launching surface is dished, and is when cocked, either concave as shown in full lines, or is convex after release, as shown in dashed lines 1011.

Surrounding the launching :plate 10, the supporting rim 22 is comprised of a number of downwardly-turned, spaced, flange segments 24 for stiffening the rim and supporting the launcher on a flat surface. The spaces or gaps 30 permit flexing of the rim in snapping between concave and convex positions. lnteg-rally projecting from the rim 22 are a pair of launching levers 14, "16, which may be provided within indented ribs 26, 28, respectively, for added strength.

To operate the rocket launcher, it need merely be cocked by depressing the center of the launching plate 10 so that it snaps into a concave position when viewed from above. The toy rocket 12, which may be made of plastic, cardboard, or other suitable material, is then placed on the launching surface. To fire the rocket, slight downward pressure on the launching levers 14 and 16 produces a bending moment across the central launching surface, with the upper face in tension and the lower face in compression. This bending moment causes the depressed launching surface to snap upwardly to a convex position 10a, which propels the rocket into the air, to the great delight of the child operating the launcher.

The rocket launcher of my invention has great durability and may be used over and over again to propel toy rockets and the childs imagination into the reaches of space. I

The launcher is also very inexpensive to manufacture, as it may be stamped from sheet stock of a spring metal or metal alloy.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above product without departing from the scope of the invention it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, which I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A toy missile launching device comprising,

(a) an arched, resilient, substantially horizontal launching plate, positionable in either a concave or convex position,

(b) an integral supporting rim, said rim being downturned around said plate,

(0) and a. pair of release levers integral with said rim,

said levers being slightly angled upwardly and extending outwardly from said rim,

(d) whereby said resilient plate will snap quickly from a concave to a convex position upon activation of said release levers to propel a missile positioned on said plate.

2. A toy missile launching device comprising, in combination,

(a) a dished, resilient launching plate substantially in the shape of a disc,

said plate being positionable in either a concave or a convex position,

3 4 Y (b) an integral, segmented, downturned suhstan- 3. The device defined in claim 2 wherein the segments tially surrounding said plate, of said rim are spaced to permit flexing of said rimwhen (c) and a pair of outwardly extending release levers the position of said plate is changed.

integral vwithsaid i'im, l

said levers being operative to slightly bend por- 5 References Cited in the fik of this Patent tions of said rim, UNITED STATES PATENTS V (d) whereby said plate is quickly and resiliently re- 2,562,685 Adams o July 31, 1951' leased from a concave to a convex position by slight bending pressure on said applied through said a v FOREIGN PATENTS release levers. 10 7' 319,653 France July 26, 1902 

